The range of services covered by building technology control systems is always being extended to more services. Building technology control systems usually comprise climate control systems for heating and cooling tasks in buildings, the main focus being the regulation of a room temperature. Heating and cooling systems for buildings are generally also designated as HVAC systems (“Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning”) or as HKL systems in German (“Heizung, Lüftung, Klimatechnik”). In so far as reference is made below to HVAC control systems or HKL control systems, these denote control systems for climate control heating and cooling tasks in buildings.
Further tasks for building technology control systems comprise for example the actuation of automatic sun protection measures, such as for instance roller blinds, as a function of the incident sunlight determined by means of a sensor system or the monitoring and control of the closing status of windows and doors.
In the context of this application “buildings” also encompass sections of buildings and any types of living environments, such as for example apartments or rooms.
In the prior art different systems are known which are intended for the remote control of equipment in a building, including inter alia the HVAC systems installed in a building. Thus for example a control system, which can be connected to the internet, for equipment in living environments can be obtained under the product designation “MAX!” via the online mail order firm “ELV Elektronik AG” from Leer in Germany. The system enables a user to control different equipment in a living environment via the internet. The system comprises an interface device (MAX! Cube) which is connected via an ethernet interface to a router present in the living environment. The router provides the interface device with a connection to the internet. Via this internet connection the interface device (MAX! Cube) is connected to an internet server system (MAX! Portal) which can be accessed by any internet-enabled terminals such as a computer or a smartphone. The access is generally made by means of an internet browser provided on the internet-enabled terminal. A plurality of devices, such as for example actuators or sensors, can be connected to the interface device (MAX! Cube) by means of a bidirectional wireless interface. In particular provision is made for remote-controlled motor-powered heater thermostatic valve actuators, window contact sensors and pickups to be connected by means of the wireless interface. By fitting compatible remote-controlled heater thermostatic valve actuators in different rooms the user is able to control the heating systems in the individual rooms in a targeted manner via a web interface. Thus the user can selectively switch on the heating in a first room and switch it off in a second room, without having to be at the particular location. Furthermore the interface device (MAX! Cube) is suitable for storage of all the configuration data and operating independently of an internet connection. The control operation is also possible without PC or internet.
Furthermore a house automation/home automation system and a method for automatic control of a domestic appliance on the basis of GPS data of a building user are known from US 2010/0127854. The GPS data of a building user, such as for instance the speed, and longitude and latitude information of the building user ascertained by means of a GPS device, are used by the home automation system in order to determine an estimated arrival time of the building user and, based thereon, to transmit a switching command to a domestic appliance.
US 2010/0161149 likewise describes a system in which an energy-consuming device is switched on the basis of the GPS data of a building user and an estimated arrival time of the building user calculated therefrom. Additional further factors are taken into consideration in the switching logic. In particular, previous performance of the energy-consuming device under different general conditions is taken into consideration, in order to achieve a situation where the energy-consuming device has already reached a steady operational state when the building user arrives. Thus for example, in order to take the inertia behavior of a heating system at different external temperatures into consideration, the heating can optionally be switched on earlier or later as a function of the external temperature and the knowledge of the earlier performance at this external temperature.
In order to achieve the respective control objective (also referred to herein as the “control specification”), the building technology control systems known from the prior art take into consideration a status of a building user in the past, but only insufficiently, and are therefore only suitable to a very limited extent for achieving a control of building technology components which is adapted to a status of a building user. Building user statuses within the context of this disclosure are for example “playing sport”, “on the way”, “at home”, “working at desk”, “sleeping”, “watching tv” and “cooking”. For example, in the systems known from the prior art it is not possible to establish whether a user is sleeping or playing sport and to derive from this a control specification of the building technology control system adapted to the respective status.
Furthermore, the systems known from the prior art do not take into consideration the fact that GPS data are not always available and also may be prone to error. As a rule the GPS data are collected via a mobile radio device or comparable portable device and transmitted to a building technology control system. For such a device to function properly the building user must carry it with him. It follows from this that the GPS data which are transmitted from the mobile telephone or from the portable device or which can be determined via the mobile communication network using a mobile radio cell number may be inaccurate. This is the case for example when a building user has forgotten his mobile telephone at a location or has deliberately not brought it with him, since for example he does not wish to be disturbed by telephone calls. Likewise, if a building user switches off his mobile telephone no GPS data are available.
A further limit to the control on the basis of GPS data is that it is not always possible to access GPS data of a building user, since for example for data protection reasons a building user may not want the GPS data of his mobile telephone to be made accessible either via his mobile communication network operator or via an interface provided on his mobile telephone.